Fragments that Remain
by Starlit Anabelle
Summary: After the Akatsuki, after everything, all that Naruto has ever known and loved has been shattered by time. But the scattered fragments of the past still seem to remain...and now it seems that he's not the only one out to pick them all up.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note-This is a fanfic based after one of the roleplays some friends and I have up on Gaiaonline. I finally decided to make it into a story, so I'll be posting more to this along with Strings of Fate. Please enjoy, and do not sue since I am a broke college student._

* * *

_"He's making his way down Crescent Drive! We'll chase him to the end of it; block off any possible escape routes!"_

_A teen with unruly blond hair glanced back, a frown on his face. "Damn, they just won't quit!" he cursed as he rushed down the streets of Salem. Despite his orange and blue hoodie and blue jeans, he could tell that the temperature had already dropped to chilly. But really, that was to be expected on an October night in Massachusetts. His footsteps sounded loud in the nearly-empty streets, now cleared of tourists due to the late hour. Past the closed up shops, past the near-empty restaurants, past the darkened cheesy tourist attractions that were all set up for Halloween, he ran. He could practically hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears, his breath heavy and paced._

_Behind him was the sound of his pursuers, a whole group of them in one dark mass, shadows in shadow._

_Glancing back at them, his blue eyes finally narrowed. "Fine! If that's the way they want to play it," he said, suddenly turning down an alleyway and reaching the end. The men followed him, rounding the corner and cutting off his visible escape route._

_"We have you cornered! Turn around and come quietly!" one of the men called over to him, reaching for his gun._

_"No way," the blond shot back with a small glare. "I'd never let myself get caught by guys like you, dattebayo." He turned to face the wall, then glanced back at them. "And anyway," He suddenly jumped up, his feet pressing against the wall and staying there. "Whoever said I was cornered?"_

_All subtlety was finally gone-what was the point of hiding powers he needed when they already knew he had them? Without even missing a beat, he quickly ran up the wall and onto the rooftop, glancing back with a small smirk before crossing the slanted shingles and leaping over to another building. Finally out of the street's shadows and running through the light of the full moon, he hoped that nobody would think to look up here. He needed to find a place to hide, and soon. He had to find a place to rest so that he could contact his current guardians._

_He jumped from roof to roof, building to building several times until he was closer to the edge of town and the buildings seemed to be spaced further and further apart. Peering into the distance, he finally noticed the small bell tower to some sort of church or chapel. Perfect. He hopped down from the building he was currently on and quickly ran over. When he reached the building, he easily walked up the outside wall as high as he possibly could, and upon reaching it, finally slipped into the small bell tower and sat down to lean against the wall._

_Closing his eyes for a moment and catching his breath, all was silent when the faint tune of 'Zombie' by the Cranberries cut through the air, the culprit of the music playing in one of his jeans pockets. Even though he had set it on low volume, it was loud in comparison to the silence of the night surrounding him. He looked down for a moment. "Should've put this thing on vibrate, dattebayo..." he muttered as he finally reached into his pocket and flipped the blue razor open and brought it to his ear, eyes blinking and trying to adjust to the light of the screen that had just shown into his eyes a mere couple seconds ago. "Yeah?" he asked. A long pause as he listened to the caller's words. "I'm fine, dattebayo. I'm hiding out in…" He peered through the darkness to read the wooden sign out front below. "St. John's Catholic Church. Up in the bell tower."_

_Another pause before he nodded, despite that the speaker couldn't see it. "Yeah, alright. Yeah, I know where that is. They have the streets swarmed right now though; they seem seem serious this time around. Give me about fifteen minutes to get over there-twenty tops if I happen to run into trouble on the way-and-" His words fell short when he could've sworn he heard a slight rustle below. Peering through the darkness again, this time towards some bushes that were off to the side, he frowned slightly and slowly lowered the phone. He hoped it was a squirrel, but-_

_His blue eyes widened when he saw what it really was._

_Dammit!  
_

**_BANG!_**

_

* * *

  
_

_"Come on, everybody hands up!__ Mataashita no heroes! Wa comeback!__"_

The blond gave a small groan, shifting and turning a bit in his seat as he tried to not only find an impossible comfortable position on the thin-cushioned, rough-fabric seat, but also in a quest to somehow manage to block out the ringtone. He knew he should've bought some earplugs or something at the station before they pulled out. "Answer your damn phone, Kurosuke-sensei…" he mumbled grumpily, half-asleep. Seriously, he was trying to take a nap here. And that stupid ringtone had woken him up at least three times already. The man really needed to pick up his phone.

_"3-2-1 Make some noise!"_

Hearing the blond giving another groan, the man sitting across from him pulled his cell from his pocket, flipping it open only when it had stopped ringing-not to return the call but simply to check who had called. Same person all three times. "I don't need to call them back," he replied lazily, sitting back in his seat as the boy meanwhile seemed to deem his quest for a nap impossible. The boy sat up while rubbing the sleep from his eyes and glancing out the train window to see the landscape rushing by. "We'll be there soon, anyway." Kurosuke raised an amused eyebrow, navy-blue colored like his short, messy hair. "Anyway," he added. "You got enough sleep last night, I thought. Keep acting like that and I'll start to think that you've started to become a grumpy old man."

The blond remained silent as he stared out the window and his own sixteen year-old reflection on the glass, trying to recognize something in the unfamiliar landscape. But…as much as he tried…a lot had changed. Either way, even if there was something recognizable, the train was rushing through the forest, quickly approaching the town that was their destination-too quickly to really observe anything in great detail if he noticed anything in particular. Who ever would've thought that he'd return to this place someday…?

Oh well. It wasn't as if he'd see ghosts when he was there or anything like that. There was no possible way. And going back to school…maybe it could be fun. He needed something to take his mind off of things. When Kurosuke's words were finally absorbed into his brain, however… "Wait, what?!" he demanded, pulled from his silent nostalgia and distracted from his quest for familiarity. "Don't call me a grumpy old man!"

"Because you're only sixteen…right…" Kurosuke commented, grinning. "You're certainly not acting like it."

"Oh, shut up…" the blond grumbled with a small huff. "Just don't call me anything like that once we reach the school."

"Nobody's going to think anything of it either way," the man replied. "It's not like it's a big deal unless you make it into a big deal. You know?" Noticing the blond's frown-not just at what he had said, but the normal distance and isolation returning to his blue eyes-the frown showing that he was troubled by the situation overall, the man's smile softened a bit. "Relax. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. And if nothing else, school and any sort of after-school activities should be keeping you busy enough."

"On that note, this whole school thing…" the blond spoke up, his frown beginning to fade as he looked up at the blunette more with curiosity now. "You're really going to be a teacher?"

Kurosuke nodded. "Yep," he replied, glancing over with a slight grin. "English class, starting today."

"Today, huh…" At first, the boy seemed to think really nothing of it. But then it hit him. The boy's eyes suddenly went wide. "Gah!" he exclaimed as he sat up more, nearly to the point of jumping up out of his seat. "Classes are starting _today?!_ At what time? What period? We haven't even gotten to town yet!"

"Quit spazzing, Naruto," Kurosuke replied calmly, rolling his violet eyes. "Class starts first period at eight thirty-"

"It's already-!" Naruto's words fell short when he remembered that he didn't have a watch and therefore didn't even have the faintest _clue_ as to what time it was.

"Five past eight," Kurosuke supplied.

"Five past eight!" Naruto repeated, now that he had what he needed to complete his statement. "We're gonna be really late at the rate we're going! Gah, I knew we should've taken the earlier train..."

Kurosuke watched him with vague amusement but even more so laziness, then shrugged carelessly. "Don't worry about it. We're already close to town, and I don't think anyone's going to mind too much if we're running a little late. I could come up with a good excuse either way." Noticing that Naruto was now giving him a flat look, he looked over questioningly. "What?"

"You really aren't too different from him sometimes," Naruto commented flatly, sighing and crossing his arms.

The twenty-two year-old grinned slightly. "Oh yeah?"

"That's not much of a compliment, either."

The man chuckled and gave a small shrug. "Anyway, you may want to go on ahead and get your uniform on," he said. "You probably won't have much time to do so once we reach the school."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right," he replied, moving to his feet and grabbing his backpack. "I'll be back in a few, dattebayo."

Watching Naruto walk off, he smiled slightly and looked out the window, putting on his usual black-framed rectangular shades with amber lenses. Dressed in his usual style-today black pants, a buttoned-up deep blue shirt, and a long black coat worn open with a silver lightning bolt pendant hanging from a thin silver chain-he really felt no need to get up and change. This was fine to teach class in, in his opinion. It was back home, anyway. "Konoha Academy," he muttered under his breath as he reached for a manga in his own backpack. "Here we come."

* * *

_Author's Note-So the first chapter turned out a bit short, but then, that's to be a bit expected of first chapter. I'll try and have the next chapter out soon. Let me know what you think and please review. Flames will be used to make s'mores-s'mores will be given to those that review._


	2. The Hassles of Travel

_Author's Note-Here is the second chapter of Fragments, and hopefully the next chapter to Strings will soon follow. Enjoy, and please do not sue since I own nothing. _

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"Well?"

Kurosuke glanced up from his manga, trying to keep his amused grin suppressed so his expression would appear more so bored. However, it seemed that he was failing miserably, a twinkle in his violet eyes. "You're looking a little out of your element, kid," he replied honestly.

Naruto made a slight face, wrinkling his nose as he plucked at the cotton uniform, consisting of a white buttoned shirt adorned with a swirled green leaf embroidery on the left side of the chest, coal-colored slacks, black dress shoes and a matching belt and tie. The only thing currently remaining of his former outfit was the necklace he always wore and the goggles he kept on his forehead to push the bangs out of his eyes. "Shouldn't you be wearing something different?" he asked, tugging a bit at one of the sleeves as he tried to figure out a way to wear such constricting clothing a bit more comfortably. "Something a little more professional?"

"Nah. I think this is fine," Kurosuke replied. "Sure I'm not wearing a tie, but I don't think too many people are really going to care."

Naruto sat down in the seat across from him, leaning to the side a bit to try and angle himself enough to get a view at Kurosuke's watch. "Gah… It's already eight fifteen," he exclaimed, sitting back up once he was finally sure of the time. "Kurosuke-sensei, do we even have any idea where the high school actually _is_?"

"Actually," Kurosuke said as he turned the page. "The school should be sending someone over to pick us up."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Naruto asked.

"Just relax…" Kurosuke replied. "It's probably no one you know. I mean, you haven't exactly been back in a while to know anyone that would currently be in the area, right?"

Blue orbs blinked before the blond sat back again. "Yeah…" he sighed. "I guess you're right." He looked out the window. "And of course, I'll have to keep things under wraps like last time. I know the routine, dattebayo."

Kurosuke smiled. "So long as you remember that," he said, violet occuli moving towards the window as they pulled into the station. "Well, this is our stop," he said, shutting his manga and sticking it back into his backpack. He moved to his feet, followed by Naruto, and the two slipped into the throng of people to be herded down the aisle.

As they emerged from the car, Naruto looked around at the crowd of people milling around in the station. "Shouldn't they be holding a sign?" he asked when he noticed that nobody really stuck out or signaled to them.

"Hm…" Kurosuke looked around for a moment before he finally placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, motioning towards one of the doorways off to their right, close to the back. "You mean like that?"

"Huh?" Naruto peered over at what Kurosuke was pointing to, blue eyes suddenly going wide.

A haphazardly hung piece of paper lay strewn across an archway which read, "Welcome to Konoha Academy" in large, sparkling green letters that stood out like a beacon against the bland, eggshell walls of the train station. To the right of the text was a frumpy drawing of somebody that looked oddly familiar, smiling with a thumbs up. But this wasn't really what had shocked the blond so much.

Standing close by, almost in front of the banner was its creator. The man's bushes were furrowed against tan wrinkles as small obsidian orbs darted fervently in search of something. He was garbed in a hooded, gray sweatshirt and tight, green sweatpants. His ebony hair was oddly bowled and blew lightly in the ominously ubiquitous wind as he stood in some sort of wild, crazy pose with a glinting grin.

When his eyes finally settled on the pair-the Konoha Academy embroidery on Naruto's shirt particularly-his grin grew wider (if that was even possible) and he called out to the two, "Hey you two, life treating you good?"

Naruto stood rooted to his spot for a moment, staring and not really noticing as people brushed past him. "K-Kurosuke-sensei…" he started faintly.

"Hm?" Kurosuke glanced down at Naruto, then back up at their escort. Finally shook his head slightly as he started forward. "What's gotten into you?" he muttered before turning his attention to the escort. "Maito Gai, Konoha Academy's head gym coach. Am I right?" he asked, switching over to Japanese. He realized that his Japanese could probably still use a little work, but he was pretty sure he was managing decently enough for the time being.

He held out his free hand for a handshake. "Hatake Kurosuke. I'm the new English teacher." He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry we're late. The train got lost in a violent storm, so we had to take a few detours at other stations," he explained, ignoring some of the nearby passengers who had overheard and were going, 'We did not…' and 'The train just arrived late…!'

He then glanced back at Naruto, who still seemed to be in a bit of shock. "Oi, Naruto. Over here," he called.

With that call, Naruto finally seemed to break from his trance. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and hurried after the teacher, coming to a stop next to the blunette.

The escort smiled widely and jerked a finger at himself, his voice loud and full of mirth. "Maito Gai, that's me! Nice to meet you Hatake-san, and welcome to the team!" Making his grip firm, he moved his hand up and down in a friendly, gentleman's shake. His small orbs then traveled to the blond whom accompanied his fellow faculty member, his smile still in place as he raised his other hand to bring it down on the boy's golden mop. He ruffled the yellowed tresses with his large hand and chuckled. "Ah, youth…who might you be then?"

Naruto continued to stare, vaguely hearing the exchange of words when the ending question managed to snap him out of his daze. "N-Naruto," he replied. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki Naruto, huh?" Gai repeated, releasing Kurosuke's hand to scratch his head. "Strange…you seem almost familiar somehow."

"The headmaster may have said something," Kurosuke replied. "We did inform him over the phone that my friend's younger brother might be coming along with me."

"Y-yeah," Naruto quickly added with a nod. "That's probably it. I've been living overseas most my life, so I don't think I could be all that familiar."

"Hm…" Gai commented, studying the boy for a few remaining moments. He finally grinned. "Oh well. It might be because you're so full of youth, just like so many of my students back at the school."

Naruto's expression fell flat as he looked away. "Don't think it could be that…" he mumbled.

"He _is_ a bit of a spaz sometimes," Kurosuke said.

Gai grinned, then looked over at Kurosuke. "So, a storm, you say? And here I thought the train was just being late because it always is!" He gave a booming, exuberant laugh as he rolled up his sleeves and glanced down at his watch. When he did, he nearly jumped out of his skin, looking a bit nervous as his eyes returned to two before him. "Anyway, we best get going; some kids believe in the '15-minute rule', if you know what I mean..." He turned, leading them through the station with a finger pointed ahead of them. He took a deep breath and shouted with a voice of triumph that ended on an opera-esque melody. "To the Gai Mobile~!"

* * *

Today was a good day. A quiet, peaceful day with azure skies, puffy white clouds, and birds chirping. With thick, cream-colored curtains covering over the windows, the morning was made even more perfect by preventing any light from shining into the room. Yep, today was the perfect day to sleep in-

_**Thunk thunk thunk thunk!**_

…But then, it seemed that life could never be that carefree.

A lump covered in pine green blankets gave a soft groan and shifted a bit, rolling onto his stomach and pulling the pillow over his head to try and block out the noise. It had been the second time he had heard it, but he was going to try ignoring it for as long as possible. Unfortunately, 'as long as possible' was not very long at all. It figured…

Troublesome.

"I'm giving you five more seconds, Shikamaru," a familiar voice called demandingly through the painted white door, somewhat muffled. Great, he knew that voice. It was definitely _not_ Chouji. Man…

Rather than actually replying, a pair of pale hands pressed a bit further down on the pillow instead. It was enough to hopefully block out the voice and the thudding better, but not so much that it was suffocating. Let him knock. It didn't matter too much if he was late this morning; it was the first day, after all. And first days were always the same, no matter what grade one was in: read over the rules and regulations, maybe some introductions of the same students one went to classes the year before… It was all the same old stuff. What could he possibly be missing?

He knew what was probably on the other side of that door. One of his friends standing there, a pale, long-haired brunette rolling green eyes and checking his watch right about now. And if he'd already done that, he was probably nonchalantly flipping through a ring of keys that probably looked more like it should belong to a janitor or a jailer more so than a student. Finally hearing a click-proving that he was right in his assumptions-Shikamaru could hear his friend making long easy strides across the room and over to his bed.

"Time to get up," his friend ordered, a hand tangling into the sheets and yanking them off.

Shikamaru gave another groan as he felt the cooler air of the room hit his pale, bare torso. At least he had chosen to wear his gray cotton sleep pants to bed instead of just boxers, but even so…how troublesome. And the thing that sucked? While this was annoying, he could probably sleep through it. But he knew this guy and how he tended to operate. If he didn't get up now, the other would probably end up doing something that hurt next.

Like…punching him.

Or dragging him out of the bed by the hair.

Or…

Gah, just thinking of all the violent occasions of the past gave him phantom pains already. Maybe he should stop. But the good thing was that thank god, he was now roommates with his other friend, Chouji. …Even though now it was obvious how little that helped. But hey, at least the last of these violent incidences were about three years ago, back towards the beginning of high school. On the other hand, he wasn't entirely sure if it was really a worthy enough gamble to believe that the other had grown less violent over the years and wasn't about to kick his ass if it wasn't out of the bed within the next minute or so.

With that in mind he finally moved, slowly shifting again to pull the pillow off to the side and prop himself up on his forearms to look at the other student. Black strands of hair fell messily around his shoulders and into his dark eyes as he gave the boy a look that was flat with sleepiness. "You're kidding me, right?" he asked drowsily. "C'mon, leave me alone already. I'm not gonna miss anything if I sleep in; it's the first day of school."

"You need to help me out," his friend said flatly, green eyes glaring at him. The boy's lips pursed into a thin line as he threw the blanket back at him, the fabric falling loosely over Shikamaru's head. "Now get your lazy ass out of bed and get dressed."

Shikamaru didn't move as the blanket fell over his face, one eye still peeking out. When the fabric finally submitted to gravity and shifted a little to reveal more of his face, he was still staring at the boy with dark lazy eyes, though now with a slight grimace at the idea of getting up and working. "…I ask you again, Neji," he said. "You're kidding right?" He sighed and rolled over to push himself up into a sitting position, causing the blanket to finally fall off of his head entirely. "After all, like I said: it's the _first day._ Normally there's no major problems until at least the second or third."

Neji glared at him, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned forward. Their faces stood close together as emerald eyes glared into Shikamaru's. His voice was low and quiet. A bit of a sneer appeared on his features, a threatening one that said if he didn't get his ass out of the bed then violence would be quick to come down upon him. "Does it _look_ like I'm kidding?" he asked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Shikamaru-who had closed his eyes, opened them again to see how close Neji was with an expression that normally promised great pain sooner or later-and in this case, probably sooner. He frowned a little for a moment, then finally sighed and scratched his head. "…You know, you can be as scary as my mom sometimes," he commented. Giving a small wave, he added, "Fine. I'll be ready in a minute; now get out of my room."

Neji glared at him for another long moment before pulling away. He straightened and turned, walking toward the door. "Hurry up," he ordered before closing the door behind him.

Shikamaru watched him go with sleepy eyes, waiting for the door to shut before dragging himself out of bed and trudging over to the door. He couldn't help but give a small grin. Neji really should've known better by now: a Nara could not be dragged out of bed so easily. A simple turn of the lock emitted a small 'click' from the door. Next he grabbed a chair and dragged it across the room with the rather loud scraping noise of wood against wood to prop in front of the door. Finally, he trudged back to bed and flopped down to go back to sleep.

…The next thing he heard was the chair crashing to the floorboards and the click of the lock. His closed eyes twitched a bit as he wasn't even given the time to drift back into sleep (which was saying something-he had a talent for being able to do that fairly quickly.) And man…he knew he should've swiped the keys when given the chance. He heard the door slowly creak open again, not even having to open his eyes now to guess that Neji had probably just stepped in with eyes closed in brief annoyance before it soon changed to a dangerous, restrained smirk on his lips while practically on the verge of cracking his knuckles to prepare for beating him into awakening. Yes, he knew the other boy that well.

"…Shikamaru," Neji spoke up softly.

…Oh yes. He was screwed.

But hey, it had been worth a shot.

The Nara gave another sigh. "Fine, fine…" he grumbled. "I tried." He pushed himself back up into a sitting position and opened his eyes, practically rolling out of the bed as he began to search for his hair tie while meanwhile debating in his head if the philosophy 'third time's a charm' was really worth it.

This time Neji stayed where he was, instead kicking the door closed and leaning against it as he watched his lazy partner search for his hair tie. He rolled his eyes. "Really..?" he asked flatly.

"Yes," Shikamaru replied, moving to the desk when he didn't see the quested item on his bedside table. "To sleep in, anyway." He shifted through the mess of half-unpacked items, then finally pulled out his hair tie and moved to the full-body mirror that hung next to the front door. As he tied his hair up into a ponytail-which now gave him the slightest of pineapple resemblances-he asked, "So, what's this I've been hearing about a new English teacher? Ino kept yammering on about the guy at orientation last night, saying that she hoped he wouldn't be as troublesome as Iwamoto-sensei last year. She also mentioned the guy would be dragging some new kid along."

Neji smirked a bit. "Luckily for you," he said. "You haven't missed the opportunity to find out."

"Oh gee, thanks," Shikamaru countered dryly. "Lucky me. But you know, I'd much rather just skip and sleep in."

Neji nodded, not seeming to care. "I do," he said. "But that doesn't mean I acknowledge that fact."

"Obviously," Shikamaru agreed, walking back over to the opened suitcase on his desk to start going through it. Finding a rumpled white shirt that had clearly been tossed into the suitcase carelessly, he pulled it on over his thin figure and buttoned it up, leaving the top few buttons undone and finding his black tie. As usual, however-just like in all the years before-he just sort of draped it over his neck, not even really bothering to tie it. It was too troublesome to do. Now for some pants.

He began to search through the suitcase again, every now and then tossing stuff lazily on the bed without a second thought. Finding a pair, he glanced over at the digital clock to see the red numbers reading fifteen past eight. That gave them fifteen minutes to get to class…but he didn't mind being late too much, so he felt it would be fine to take his time. As he changed from sleep pants to the black cotton pants of the uniform and pulled on the belt, he glanced over at Neji to see that the boy was now staring out the window at a few birds fluttering around in the trees. He gave a faint smile at this. Typical Neji…

Grabbing his black backpack that was decorated with a slashed red circle, he shifted it onto his back. "I'm ready," he informed, jamming his feet into his black shoes, not really caring if the backs got bent out of shape from the bad habit conceived by laziness. "Anyway, long way or short? It's gonna be troublesome if we have a run-in with any grumpy Akatsuki or Otos on the way to class."

Pulling green orbs away from the window, Neji's expression became bored as he pushed himself from the door. "Long way," he replied simply, opening the door and slipping through it, followed by the lazy classmate. "It'll be better than running into them and getting sidetracked."

* * *

_Author's Note-Second chapter to Fragments is now up and posted! Please review and let me know what you think, and I should hopefully have the next chapter to Strings and the next chapter to this up soon. Flames will be used in Deidei's explosives.  
_


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